Honduras - Day One

Thursday January 3, 2013 - Day One (10:46 PM)

I left my apartment at 1:30 AM on Thursday January 13th unaware of the amazing and unforgettable experience I was embarking on. Joanna picked me up and we drove to O'Hare International Airport. One by one members of our brigade checked our huge bags full of medications and dental supplies. We proceeded to security and got on our flight to Houston, Texas at 5:20 AM. I was very nervous and scared because I have never traveled out of the country before and I was really missing my family, but I had to hold up my head and get ready for this adventure! We got to Houston and sprinted to our connecting to flight to Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras. A couple hours later, I was flying above Tegucigalpa! Wow! Flying into Tegucigalpa was absolutely breathtaking because the city sits in a valley with mountains on every side! Unlike flying anywhere above the United States where you see organized rows of homes and cities, the homes of Tegucigalpa were everywhere! They were placed on top of hills, on the side of hills, in diagonal order, too close to one another or too far apart. I loved the fact that a city could be so unorganized yet so beautiful at the same time. We landed and I could instantly feel the heat, 90 degree weather welcomed us off our flight. We proceeded through a long line of customs and met the Global Brigades members outside the airport. Our staff members were Armando, Mario, Luis, Carlos, Dr. Anna, and Officer Oseguera. All these staff members are citizens of Honduras that volunteer their time to assist and lead us in our brigade. We got into vans and started driving. I saw palm trees and colorful flowers everywhere! Our driver was playing funny music and we stopped at the nearest rest stop to get snacks where I spent a lot of time trying to calculate the conversion of US dollars to Honduras lempiras. After, we drove three hours south to San Lorenzo! The drive was my favorite part of the trip thus far. We drove up and down and through the mountains on winding roads observing the environment of Honduras. I saw cattle, pigs, dogs, children, families, homes, businesses and anything else you could imagine! There are cows, chickens, roosters, cats, dogs, birds, and geese that roam the roads without a single concern. There are children everywhere on the side of the streets, riding bikes, or playing in the yard. This bus ride was also a culture shock to me because the poverty is so extreme here. Near the end of the trip, it was hard to stay awake because I had been awake all night traveling, but we eventually made it. Our brigade stayed in a hotel called Hotel Club Morazan. Trust me when I say the hotel was not a five-star hotel but we were extremely blessed and thankful that we did not have to stay at a compound with no windows or air. The reason we stayed in a hotel was to ensure our safety since Honduras is not the safest of countries. Anyway, the people were very kind and fed us dinner: vegetables, fries, fried chicken, soup, watermelon, and drinks. It was amazing!!! Then we were assigned rooms for the week. My roommates were Jordyn, Joanna, and Shelby. We are laying on our beds talking now and soon walking back to the "lobby" (outdoor pavillion) of the hotel to start sorting out the pharmacy. Our brigade brought so many medications! Countless medications! Oh my gosh, it was great! I have never seen so many toothbrushes and toothpaste before! Heaven! I was so proud of our brigade and especially the dental team that brought all the dental supplies! We then sorted through children's' vitamins into individual bags to distribute to families later in the week. We all chatted and bonded and it was fun! That is all for tonight in Honduras! Goodnight! Check out some pictures of my hotel room, our hotel, and us sorting medications!

Also, please watch my first daily journal on youtube!